'Nothing major': Portsmouth boss addresses West Ham youngster's Cardiff absence - and when he'll be back

The talented midfielder wasn’t named in a Blues squad for the first time since arriving on a season-long loan from West Ham in August.

However, rather than a selection decision, Mousinho afterwards revealed the omission was down to a calf injury collected at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

As a consequence, Isaac Hayden earned the nod ahead of Marlon Pack to start alongside Andre Dozzell in the centre of midfield for the 2-1 success over the Bluebirds.

Pompey’s head coach insists Potts’ injury is ‘nothing major’ - although he’s set to also miss Saturday’s trip to Oxford United.

Mousinho told The News: ‘Freddie felt his calf at the weekend and we scanned it on Monday.

‘It’s nothing major, he’s going to be out for about 10 days and hopefully back for QPR (February 22).

‘I would say he’s 50/50 for Oxford. I just think with where we are going at the moment and the way that every pitch is, being really heavy with the rainfall we’ve had, it is probably not worth risking him.’

Until Tuesday night, Potts had been involved in every Pompey match since making his debut at Burnley on September 21.

That equated to a run of 27 successive appearances, consisting of 25 starts, with the Hammers starlet shining in his first stint in the Championship.

During a sparkling loan spell with Wycombe in League One last season, he was crowned Supporters’ Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season.

In total, Potts made 44 appearances for the Adams Park club, bringing him to the attention of Pompey following their promotion to the Championship.

His absence against Cardiff created one match-day loan slot, allowing Mousinho to add fit-again Mark O’Mahony to his squad.

Pompey presently have six loanees - Potts, O’Mahony, Hayden, Rob Atkinson, Kaide Gordon and Adil Aouchiche. However, a maximum of five can be named in a match-day squad.